Dispenser for retaining rings



Sept. 29, 1959 A N 2,906,433

DISPENSER FOR RETAINING RINGS Original Filed July 14, 1952 1! 32 33 I9 28 x I INVENTOR' FIG. 4 J 2e HANS 'ERDMANN United States Patent 2,906,433 DISPENSER FOR RETAINING RINGS Hans Erdmann, Maplewood, NJ., assignor to Waldes- Kohinoor, Inc., Long Island City, N.Y., a corporation of New York Original application July 14, 1952, Serial No. 298,869, now Patent No. 2,819,818, dated January 14, 1958. Divided and this application October 30, 1957, Serial No. 693,277

7 Claims. (Cl. 221220) This invention relates to improvements in dispensers for retaining rings as more fully disclosed in my application for United States Letters Patent Serial No. 298,869, filed July 14, 1952, now Patent No. 2,819,818, dated January 14, 1958, of which the present application is a division.

As explained in my aforesaid application, the mass assembly of spring retaining rings in the grooves of shafts, spindles and the like through the use of a special tool known as an applicator, which also serves initially to grip and withdraw the rings to beassembled from a stack or column thereof arranged on the stack rod of a dispenser, is rendered more diflicult and time consuming than is desirable by the requirement of the prior dispensers that the applicator be held with its ring-backing flange disposed downwardly. It is a major object of the present invention to correct this difliculty through the provision of a form of dispenser which is so cons'tructed and arranged that the ring applicator may be cooperated therewith to dispense, i.e. grip and withdraw, the lowermost ring of the stack (or the ring then in position to be engaged by said applicator, sometimes hereinafter referred to as the assembly-readiness position), with its backing flange disposed upwardly rather than downwardly as heretofore.

More particularly, a principal object of the present invention is the provision of a simple yet effective form of retaining ring dispenser of a design requiring the applicator to be held with its ring-backing flange disposed upwardly thereby to avoid the necessity of subsequently turning the applicator when performing ring assembly operations demanding that the ring he backed from above.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a retaining ring dispenser for dispensing retaining rings from a stack thereof through the use of an applicator held with its ring-hacking flange disposed upwardly, whose construction and design are such as to reduce the dispensing operation to a simple push-and-pull movement of the applicator over the working surface (slideway) of the dispenser, and also to do away with the usual slide member serving to move the lowermost ring of the stack thereof to an assembly readiness position wherein it may be gripped by the applicator, as is required in all other forms of comparable retaining ring dispensers with which I am familiar.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a dispenser for retaining rings as aforesaid, characterized in that simple push movement of the applicator along its slideway first effects movement of the lowermost ring of the ring stack to an assembly readiness position, wherein it is held against the thrust of the applicator, and thereafter results in gripping of said ring, together with bodily raising of the ring stack or column the small amount necessary to prevent the final push movement of the applicator being impeded by the next higher ring or rings of the ring column.

"- In the accompanying drawing, illustrating the form of retaining ring dispenser constituting the subject matter of the present divisional application;

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the form of retaining ring dispenser to which 'the present specification is directed, the view also illustrating the applicator for use therewith; I

Fig. 2 is a section through the dispenser taken along line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a section through the dispenser similar to Fig. 2 but illustrating the applicator cooperated therewith, the latter being shown in the position as just having pushed the lowermost ring of the column or stack thereof to its assembly readiness position; and v Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 2 but showing the applicatorfpushed home in' the dispenser slideway, and the action of the applicator in gripping said lowermost ring and also of slightly raising the column of rings out of contact with said lowermost ring.

Referring to the drawings, reference numeral 10 generally indicates a dispenser according to the present invention, which is adapted to be actuated by a so-called applicator tool 11. Preferably, the latter is of the type disclosed in United States Patent No. 2,488,379, to Brell,

and comprises a shank 12 subdivided longitudinally into resilient arms 12a, 12b by a slot 13, the arms terminating in clamping portions as provided by segmental jaws 14, 15 which together define a semi-circular recess 17 for receiving a retaining ring, which latter is usually slightly undersize with respect to said ring recess. When seated in the recess, the retaining ring is backed on one side by a backing-flange 16 which, when the applicator is held with its ring recess opening downwardly, as in Figs. 3 and 4, is disposed to overhang and thereby back up the ring body, whose outer edge is spring-gripped by the jaw edges defining the aforesaid recess 17. As will be understood from the foregoing, it is a feature ofthe invention that the dispenser to be described is adapted to be actuated by the applicator held with its backing flange disposed upwardly, whereby the operator is relieved of the obligation of turning the applicator during the course of assembling a ring in an application requiring that it be backed from above rather than from below.

As will be further understood, the retaining rings for which the aforesaid dispenser and applicator are designed, and which are designated 19 in the several views,

' are of the open type as best seen in Fig. 1; that is to ping and withdrawing a ring from the column of rings maintained in the dispenser, is also used to assemble the ring in its groove by pushing it over its shaft in the plane of said groove.

Referring now to the dispenser 10, such comprises a base 22 which may have rectangular form and is preferably provided with an upstanding block-like portion havinga horizontal top surface 23. Set into a vertical hole 24 opening through the top face of the base is a stack rod I 25 which is rigidly held in upright position as by a set screw 26, the stack rod serving as usual to hold a plurality of the retaining rings 19 to be dispensed and assembled in vertical stack or column formation.

Formed in the top or working face of the base 22 is a channel 28 adapted to provide a slideway for the applicator 11. Accordingly, the width of the channel 28 is Patented Sept. 29, 1959,

such as to receive and provide guidance for the working end of theapplicator and the depth of the channel corresponds substantially to the axial thickness of one of the retaining rings 19 to be assembled. As best seen in Fig. 1,

the channel 28' extends inwardly from the front edge of the base substantially to the stack rod 25, and it is also tobe observed that the channel is disposed symmetrically with respect to said stack rod. At its inner end, the channel terminates in an inclined step 30 which leads to the aforesaid top face 23 of the base. Thus, considering said top face as having one elevation and the bottom wall or floor of the channel 28 as having a lower elevation, it will be seen that the dispenser base 22 has higher and lower level portions which are connected by the step or way 30, which latter is disposed somewhat forwardly of the stack rod 25 upon which the plurality of rings to be dispensed are stacked.

Also secured to the top face 23 of the dispenser base is a cross bar 32 formed with a forwardly directed lug 33 (Fig. 1) which is adapted to extend into the gaps of the lowermost rings 19 disposed on the stack rod 25, thus to maintain them in properly oriented position. As best seen in Fig. 2, said cross bar 32 is undercut along its forward edge to provide an overhanging ledge 34 which is spaced from the top face 23 of the base a distance corresponding to the axial thickness of one of the rings 19. Thus, upon the lowermost ring of the column being pushed rearwardly by the thrust of the appllcator 11 the predetermined small amount such that a portion of its edge moves beneath the ledge 34, the latter functions to hold said ring against upward movement.

In the operation of the aforesaid dispenser, the applicator, turned so that its ring-backing flange 16 is disposed upwardly, is inserted into the channel or slideway 28 and a. rearward push is applied thereto. Such results, in the first instance, see Fig. 3, in the forward end edge of said ring-backing flange 16 of the applicator engaging the peripheral edge of the lowermost ring 19 of the stack or column thereof disposed on the stack rod 25 and forcing said ring rearwardly to an assembly readiness position in which its opposite edge portion extends under the ledge 34 of the cross bar 32, and also in said forward end edge of the flange moving inwardly under the next higher ring of the column. Continued push movement applied to the applicator causes the same to engage the inclined way or step 30 and to move up the same, and because the step is disposed beneath tlyring column, the applicator in moving up same proceeds to lift the entire column of rings from the lowermost ring which has moved beneath the ledge 34, which latter holds said lowermost ring from being also lifted, whereupon the applicator is free to continue its push movement without obstruction from the next higher ring or rings of the ring column. In the final push movementapplied to the applicator, the spring jaws 14, thereof spread over and grippingly engage the outer edge of said lowermost ring held by the ledge 34. The applicator may now be withdrawn by straight pull motion applied thereto, as results in said gripped ring being withdrawn from the column of rings held by the stack rod 25, whereupon said ring column lowers on to the top face 23 of the base where it is supported in readiness for the next dispensing operation.

It will of course be understood that, whereas the stack rod throughout its major length portion has width corresponding to the inner-edge diameter of the bodies of the retaining rings 19, the lower end portion thereof, or at least the portion thereof which projects immediately above the top face 23 of the dispenser base for a distance. corresponding to the thickness of one or two of the retaining rings, hassubstantially reduced width which is such as to enable withdrawal of the lowermost ring gripped by the applicator tool without such ring movement being impeded by its end lugs 19b, 190 being held by the side edges of the stack rod.

Without further analysis, it will be. appreciated that the above described dispenser satisfies the objectives of the invention as stated in the foregoing in simple yet effective manner. That is to say, the present dispenser is of a form that renders it actuable by an applicator held with its ring-backing flange disposed upwardly, at the same time reducing the dispensing operation to a simple push-and-pull movement of the applicator over the working surface of the dispenser, and also of doing away with the usual slide members serving in the more conventionaltypes of dispenser to effect movement of the lowermost ring of the stack or column thereof to an assembly readiness position wherein it may be gripped by the applicator.

As. many changes could be made in carrying out the above construction without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the. accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

I claim:

1. A retaining ring dispenser comprising a base having a top surface and a stack rod aflixed to the base and extending upwardly from said top surface for holding a plurality of retaining rings adapted to be supported thereon in stack formation, a slideway in said top surface extending inwardly from the front end thereof to at least said stack rod, said slideway adapted to guide a ring gripping and applying tool having a ring-receiving recess and a backing flange for backing a ring received in said recess toward the ring column and having width corresponding substantially to the width of said tool and depth corresponding substantially to the axial thickness of one retaining ring, ring-stop means disposed a predetermined distance rearwardly of the stack rod and adapted to maintain a ring moved rearwardly thereto in assembly readiness position and said slideway having an inclined step disposed forwardly of the stack rod and which extends across said slideway beneath the column of rings supported on said top surface whereby, when a ring gripping and applying tool turned with its backing flange disposed upwardly is actuated along the slideway towards the ring column, it first pushes the lowermost ring of the column rearwardly to said assembly readiness position and at the same time moves in under the next higher ring of said column and thereupon, responsively to its movement up said inclined step, receives and grips said lowermost ring in its recess and lifts the higher rings of the column so as to free the gripped ring therefrom for subsequent removal.

2. A retaining ring dispenser substantially as set forth in claim 1, wherein said ring-stop means for maintaining a ring in the assembly readiness" position comprises a cross member aflixed to the top surface of the base at a small distance rearwardly from the stack rod.

' 3. A retaining ring dispenser substantially as set forth in claim 2, wherein said cross member is provided with means for preventing said lowermost ring moving thereto from being lifted by the tool with the main column of rings.

4. A retaining ring dispenser substantially as set forth in claim 1, wherein said slideway comprises the bottom wall of a channel formed in the top surface of the base which terminates at its inner end in said inclined step and a portion of said top surface aligned with said channel bottom-wall.

5. Apparatus for dispensing retaining rings comprising, in combination, a ring dispensing device and a tool for actuating the same, said device comprising a base canying a vertically disposed stack rod extending from its upper face for holding a plurality of retaining rings in stack formation, said upper face having aligned portions arranged at different elevations and together forming a slideway for the tool extending beneath the ring stack, said aligned portions being connected by an inclined step of height substantially equaling the axial thickness of a retaining ring and. which. extends transversely across the slideway immediately forwardly of the stack rod, ringstop means extending transversely across the slideway and rearwardly of the stack rod for establishing an assembly readiness position of the lowermost ring of the stack upon the latter being pushed rearwardly thereto, said tool being insertible in the slideway for travel therealong and having a ring gripping portion including a ringreceiving recess opening through its forward end edge and a backing flange for backing a ring received in said recess, the construction and arrangement being such that, when the tool is inserted in said slideway with its backing flange disposed upwardly and is caused to slide there along toward the ring stack, it first engages the lowermost ring of said stack and moves it to its assembly readiness position and thereafter, in moving up said inclined step, 15

it receives and gripssaid ring in its recess while lifting the remaining rings of the stack from said lowermost ring.

6. Apparatus for dispensing retaining rings substantially as set forth in claim 5, wherein said ring-stop means for establishing the assembly readiness position of the ring comprises a cross bar extending across the slideway, the forward edge of said bar adapted to provide a ledge for preventing said lowermost ring moving thereto from being lifted by the tool with the main column of rings.

7. Apparatus for dispensing retaining rings substantially as set forth in claim 5, wherein said slideway portion' of lesser elevation comprises the bottom wall of an upwardly opening channel sunk into the top surface of the base forwardly of the stack rod.

Weekes May 27, 1952 Stabile Sept. 1, 1953 

